


Homecoming

by Alifredson



Series: Together Again [3]
Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alifredson/pseuds/Alifredson
Summary: After several Ranger's communicators start acting strange and Tommy receives a communication from the Blue Protector Ranger of the galaxy Triangulum, all of Earth's former Rangers come together to receive powers again.
Relationships: Kimberly Hart/Tommy Oliver
Series: Together Again [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509686
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Homecoming

There were some days that Tommy just knew, as soon as he woke up, that fate was hiding around some dark corner, getting ready to throw a roundhouse kick at the back of his head. Today was one of those days.

It had all started four days ago. Being the third week since the start of the new school year, he’d just settled into his new classes. It was a whole new world for him- being able to focus on grading tests and quizzes, staying after school ended to answer students’ questions at his leisure, he’d even become the teacher-mentor for a science club.

Then, four days ago, he’d turned on his cell phone after the final dismissal bell to find that he had thirty-seven missed calls from nearly every Ranger from Jason to Trent, all within the last twenty minutes. He’d raced to his car, picking up a call from Hayley right as he jumped in his Jeep.

“Get to your house. Right. Now.” She had commanded. “Emergency. Ranger related.”

She’d hung up and Tommy had raced home. He’d pulled up and found cars he recognized as belonging to Zach, Hayley, and Kira all parked haphazardly in front of the house. Even before he got inside, he could hear alarms blaring from down in the command center, so he sprinted inside and downstairs through the trap door.

As soon as he got over to the two former Rangers and former Ranger technician at the computer, all the alarms stopped. “I didn’t do that.” Hayley said, throwing up her hands.

A picture suddenly came up on the screen above the command center controls. A figure, face masked with a helmet, stood in front of a non-descript background. The figure was clad in blue in what, to Tommy, looked like it could be a Power Ranger suit, although it didn’t quite resemble any team he’d been on or heard of before. The figure inclined its head ever so slightly, seemingly in acknowledgement, then began to speak. “Falcon, White Ranger of the Planet Terra, I am Blue Ranger of the Protectors. I contact you with news that a great evil has revealed itself that most in the universe thought had been long snuffed out. My team, comprised of ten beings of many different species and originating from many different galaxies, has fought this evil for over twenty-six of your planet’s rotations around your local star. We have been unable to defeat the evil although we have for many years been able to contain it in the galaxy you know as Triangulum. We thought we were winning, but the evil was only biding its time and has increased its numbers where we could not see. It has now revealed much larger plans and has sent factions toward several different galaxies and planets, including your own, to enslave the local masses. Many, however, still remain in Triangulum. My team must make a stand here, so those that have held powers previously on your planet are needed to protect your people. Please, gather all who have served to yourself in the place that you receive this message. In four of your days, Green Ranger, Leader of the Protectors, will come to you to recharge your powers. Your former Rangers, if they keep with them their former communication devices, should have started to receive notification. Be assembled at this same hour on the allotted day. May the Power protect you.”

The screen shut off on its own accord. “Well, Mighty Leader. How are we doing this?” Zach’s voice was anything but teasing, which made Tommy more nervous than anything else.

“Time to set the phone tree into action. We need to assemble the troops.”

__________

They needed to all be downstairs in the Command Center around 4PM. Tommy had gone down, dressed and ready to go but with nothing in him but a cup of coffee, by 7AM, too nervous to do anything but wait. The Rangers that had slept at his house the night before, Zach, Rocky, and Aisha, had all joined him by 9:30, Rocky bringing with him a plate of hot breakfast which he forced on Tommy. Hayley and her delegation, Kat, Tanya, Adam, and Billy, arrived not too long past 11AM, followed shortly thereafter by Conner, Kira, Trent, and Ethan. Rangers continued to arrive in small groups, but Tommy rarely noticed.

It had gotten around that the assumedly extra-terrestrial Ranger that had demanded their presence had addressed Tommy specifically and it was generally acknowledged among everyone that such an act made Tommy the unquestioned leader over them all. None of them envied his position. Rangers that had never met Tommy or had done so only quickly in passing found themselves avoiding the man out of awe and respect. Those Tommy had served with avoided him because they were well aware that there had only ever been two Rangers that had been able to calm Tommy’s nerves and encourage confidence in him. By half-past noon, neither had arrived.

The basement command center was crowded, Tommy noted as he sat away from the others. There was an undercurrent of anxiety and as a result, Rangers sat in small groups, speaking below a whisper or not at all. A giant Ranger family reunion and it was the most somber event in Tommy’s recent memory.

Finally, around 1PM, Jason and Trini entered. Tommy watched as Jason made a beeline for him, Trini going to sit quietly near Zach, Billy, and Hayley. “Jase.”

“Tommy.” Jason sat next to him shoulder to shoulder and they quietly stared out at the rest of the Rangers scattered around the room.

“We were all supposed to be retired. None of these people are supposed to have to put themselves in danger again. And, apparently, I have to lead all of them.”

“We were all called to be Rangers, Tommy. We all know the risks, the sacrifices. I’d rather be able to fight than to have to hope for the best against some asshole trying to end the world.”

“This Big Bad is trying to enslave us, actually.”

“I’m going to be right behind you. I know you’re in charge per the Blue Ranger, but you know that me and every other person in here is used to the chain of command. The leaders will help you lead.”

They sat in silence together for the next hour as more Rangers came in in little groups, until, around 2PM, the slow procession ended completely.

“I need to know who we’re still missing.” Tommy said, scanning the crowd and trying to remember the order of the teams and who, or at least how many, were on each.

“I can take care of roll call,” he promised. He stood up and most eyes in the room turned to him. “Team leaders- I need you to see who is missing from your team and report to me.” Several people stood up forming a short line in front of Jason to report. It took a second, but when Tommy did not rise to claim his former teams, Rocky and Conner also rose to report on the Ninjetti and Zeo, and Dino Rangers, respectively.

After a few minutes, Jason came back. “The only person we’re missing is Kimberly.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been watching for her. I can’t… I don’t have any contact info for her. Neither do any of the other pinks from what I’ve heard, and no one on Mighty Morphin’ or Ninjetti, unless you or Trini…”

“I… no. I haven’t heard from her since she walked out of the Youth Center after that tournament.”

“She’ll still come, right? Being a Ranger… the duty… she wouldn’t turn her back on that?”

“Never. But there are other reasons why someone wouldn’t show up and they have nothing to do with being a Ranger.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

__________

The waiting dragged on endlessly. The noise level never reached even the level of a din, people rarely stood or walked or even moved at all. Faces were grim.

At 4:05PM two figures teleported into an open section of floor just in front of Tommy and Jason, whom they faced. The Blue Protector Ranger and the Green Protector Ranger, who was apparently the leader.

Tommy stood, the rest of the Rangers in the basement following his example and rising as well. Tommy stepped slightly forward while Jason and the others stood routed to their places. “Blue Ranger, Green Ranger,” he acknowledged each with a nod, “thank you for coming. We appreciate the aid so we can protect our home.”

Tommy took stock of the Rangers in front of him. They both wore skintight bodysuits that seemed completely continuous from head to toe. He couldn’t see any seam or any area where the suit parts separated. The Blue Ranger was very tall, Tommy thought over seven feet, while the Green Ranger was quite small, closer to five foot.

“Falcon, White Ranger,” the Blue Ranger said. “Have you assembled all of your planet’s Rangers?”

“All but one who we cannot locate.”

“This was foreseen and is therefore inconsequential.” Tommy took a deep breath and clenched his jaw. Was that supposed to mean that his worst fears were true? _How could I not know it if Kim had died?_ He looked back at Jason who looked just as distressed as he felt and then over at his former Mighty Morphin’ and Ninjetti teammates who all had huddled together, apparently comforting one another.

“Time is fleeting,” said the Blue Ranger. “We must prepare for the recharging of Powers.” The Blue Ranger turned to look at the assembled former Rangers, the Green Ranger stepping behind him. “Falcon, as leader, all Rangers will receive Power after it first flows through you. Please stand facing me.” Tommy stepped in front of the Blue Ranger. “Next, the four Ninjetti Rangers who received the Great Power on Phaedos. Please stand in a line behind Falcon and you each must put a hand on him. With your other hand, connect yourself to your neighbor.” Aisha and Billy stood behind either of Tommy’s shoulders, each reaching and hand out to his shoulder. Rocky stood on the other side of Aisha, taking her free hand and grabbing the outside of Tommy’s shoulder while Adam did the same on the other side of Billy.

“Next, the remaining Mighty Morphin’ Rangers and Zeo Rangers. Stand behind the Ninjetti Rangers, touching one and find a neighbor with your other hand.” Zack and Tanya fell in behind Adam, Jason behind Rocky, Trini behind Aisha, and Kat took a position behind Billy. “Please continue by chronological team, standing with the first team you served on.”

The Rangers continued the process quietly, teams standing one at a time and taking positions before the next team stepped forward. In just a few minutes, the Rangers were assembled.

“The Green Ranger will commence the recharge as soon as I leave. Falcon, when Green Ranger steps forward, you are to place your hands in the same manner on Green as Green places on you. Please stay connected in this position until the Green Ranger tells you otherwise. You will receive further instruction once your Powers have been Recharged. May the Power protect you.”

“And you as well, Blue Ranger,” Tommy responded for the group. The Blue Ranger quietly teleported out and Tommy turned to look at the Green Ranger.

The Green Ranger stepped forward silently and placed its left hand over the left side of Tommy chest, then waited until Tommy did the same. The Green Ranger’s suit, which looked soft and thin enough, was rock solid and cold to the touch. Next, the Green Ranger lifted its hand, palm flat and vertical, which Tommy mirrored before the Green Ranger pressed their palms together. The Green Ranger bowed its head, so Tommy did the same.

Then, all at once, he felt the Power pouring through him. It came in through both of his hands, circled around his body, then continued on to the other Rangers through the hands he felt resting on his shoulders. This was their Powers. _His_ powers felt different. They were coming through the Green Ranger’s hand over his heart and they lingered there before moving through his body slowly, taking up residence little by little along the way.

They stood that way for near an hour, the Green Ranger completely still the entire time, when the Green Ranger’s head finally lifted. After another moment, the Green Ranger stepped back dropping contact with Tommy’s body. It took a moment for the Rangers to notice and they slowly dropped their stiff stances as well.

Knowing that they were expected to receive further instruction and glad to be able to move a little, the rest of the Rangers stepped forward a bit, toward the Green Ranger, although they still left Tommy in the center, just a half step ahead of them.

The Green Ranger stepped forward again, grabbing Tommy’s left hand and raising it so his fingertip’s rested on the side of the Green Ranger’s jaw.

Then, suddenly, the part of the suit covering the Ranger’s head melted away and he felt warm skin under his fingertips.

He passed out before he could utter her name.

__________

Tommy was glad that even though he fainted, he was the first of the four Rangers that did to come to. Jason, Trini, and, Rocky had all also gone down with him in shock at seeing Kimberly for the first time in a decade (or more, in Trini’s case). She was kneeling nearby him still in her Green Ranger uniform minus the helmet.

“Hi Tommy.” She whispered. “It’s been a long time.”

“Kim?!” Aisha came flying at her. “Kim! We couldn’t find you, we thought you were…” Aisha choked on her tears, unable to finish her sentence.

“We should all sit. I need to explain.” Kim sat cross legged, facing Tommy, several of their teammates crowding to sit around them, although everyone left space for Jason to sit next to Tommy, and Trini, now in tears, to slump against Kim’s shoulder.

“Kim.” Tommy said and tears came to her eyes. “You’re crying.”

“I’m sorry… it’s just been so long! So long that I started to forget what all of your voices sounded like and what your faces looked like. So long since I’ve even heard my own name.”

“What happened? How are you here like this?” Asked Kat.

“Just after the last Christmas I came to visit during, I was teleported to the Command Center. Zordon told me that a group of Rangers in another galaxy needed help and I was being volunteered by the Power. I was the only inactive Ranger in the universe with access to the Great Power. It’s wasn’t really an offer- it was a command. I cut off contact with everyone and I was sent to Phaedos to further train my connection until it was time to go. When I came back to Earth so I could tie up loose ends, well, I knew I was going to be leaving soon. There have been fifty-eight Rangers on the Protectors in the last twenty-six years including myself and the nine other current members of my team. One Ranger retired due to severe injury. All the forty-seven others that have come before us were killed. I thought that I’d never see Earth again, so I begged to be allowed to see you,” she looked directly at Tommy, “again one last time. I got in touch with Jason and we went scuba diving, and well, you know the rest. I’ve been fighting ever since.”

“Why haven’t you heard your own name? What do they call you if not ‘Kim’?” Jason asked.

“It’s required that Protectors cast off anything that can connect them to their old lives. The Evil can’t attack your home planet for leverage if they don’t know what it is. So, we give up our names, our possessions. I wear my full uniform at all times except when my door is locked. No one on my team has ever seen my face. They don’t know my species or what galaxy I’m from or even what my sex is- not that they’d all necessarily know what that means. There are a ton of species that have either only one sex or so many that it’d be impossible to count. We do not eat together or spend leisure time together- not that I’ve had much of that either. If one of us gets kidnapped and tortured by the Evil, we won’t have any information that they can pull from us on our teammates. So, I am just called ‘Green’ or ‘Leader.’ It’s really nice to have a name one last time, even if it’s just for a little bit.”

“What is this Evil?” Adam asked, sitting on the fringe of the inner circle, Tanya’s hand clasped in his.

“That is a long story.” Kim close her eyes for a second then opened them and her right hand which revealed two flash drives. She held one out to Tommy. “This will explain the history of the Evil as we understand it, the tactics we have used in the past, and suggestions for the best ways to utilize your team.” She twisted to face Hayley who stood outside the glob of Rangers completely, extending the other flash drive towards her. “This contains schematics for several weapons and defense systems that have been effective for us. It also contains research into the anatomy of the Shadows, the Evil’s foot soldiers.”

“I cannot stay very much longer. I still have a duty to warn the governments of several planets including this one, so you won’t be completely on your own in this fight. Then, I need to get back to my team. Prepare quickly, you probably have three to five weeks at best until the Evil arrives.”

“Everyone get all of your contact information to your team leader so we can create a quicker way to get in touch with everyone. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” Tommy stood, motioning Kim to come with him. Rangers scurried out of their path and Tommy led Kim upstairs, out of the house, and onto the front porch.

“You’re talking like you aren’t going to survive this,” he accused as soon as they got outside. He stepped into her space, so close that he could feel her breath.

“It’s a big battle. An impossible battle ahead of me.”

Tommy leaned down, kissing Kim hard on the mouth. It took her a few seconds to respond, but she did with vigor.

“You are coming home.” Tommy growled at her when they separated for air. “You are coming home to me. You are going to do absolutely whatever you must to survive and you are coming home to me.”

“I’ll try, Tommy.” She said trying to reach her palms out to rest on his chest, but he grabbed her hands before she could get to him.

“No. Not try, Kim. You _are_ going to come home. I’ve been drowning for years and I’ve finally had a breath of air again. You are going to come home, or I won’t be able to survive. Promise me, Kim. After all that we’ve survived, after all we are going to have to get through in the fight ahead, we deserve to be happy. Tell me you want to come home to me.”

“I want to come home to you more than anything, Tommy. I left to protect you. I never thought I’d live this long or that this villain would survive so long either. You are the only thought that keeps me going. Your face was the only one I’ve been able to keep completely clear in my memory.”

“Then promise me you’ll come home.”

“I promise.”

Tommy kissed her fervently again. Moments later, she was gone.

__________

The shadows showed up three weeks and three days after Kim had recharged their Powers, but they were pretty well prepared to defend the planet all the same. A coalition of Blues had been put in charge of building their arsenal. Tommy with Jason as his right hand and the Ninjetti Rangers acting as team captains organized teams, mixing Rangers from all different teams for maximum impact against the enemy. Hayley and Billy had built a system from the flash drive that masked high population areas and made deserted areas- mostly deserts because the Tundra was just too much for the Rangers, seem like they were densely populated. The Shadows targeted areas that their sensors showed were highly populated and the masking system worked every time. With the teleportation technology that the Protectors provided schematics to, the Rangers were able to be sent anywhere in the world where the Shadows or the Evil’s generals appeared. (These were hyper-intelligent, vaguely feline predators, twice the size of a full-grown lion, able to speak, and which had skin about as indestructible as a tank’s. Ethan referred to them as the big bosses.)

It took three months and their identities ended up being revealed to several world militaries and eventually the world population at large, but finally, near the end of January, the Shadows stopped appearing. Tommy led a contingent of his strongest fighters to explore the ships the Evil had come in, which were still in orbit around the planet, but they found that they were all empty. The Rangers destroyed forty-three of them and kept the last remaining three under lock and key to be researched and eventually to be turned over to the Protectors, if they came back for them.

For the first five months after the Evil was eradicated from Earth, Tommy held himself together. He worried about Kim, but he also knew her team had more work to do than his did.

After five months, almost nine months since he had seen her, he slowly began to lose hope.

On the one-year anniversary of the Rangers’ triumph, people around the world held vigils for the lives lost, celebrated the Rangers who’d protected everyone still living, and remembered the only human listed as missing in action in this fight- Kimberly Hart. In Reefside, Tommy refused to get out of bed or eat, no matter who tried to convince him to do otherwise.

__________

Tommy walked aimlessly through the supermarket, picking up food and putting it into his cart without much thought. He’d just finished with school that day- he still taught, even with his now international celebrity status. Teaching was the one thing that still occasionally brought him some semblance of joy.

It was Mid-February and the week had been hard. Kimberly’s birthday would have been two days ago. He’d called out of work that day, unable to function. The weekend before, he’d begged the Rangers to leave him be for the entire day, needing to spend Kim’s birthday awash in his own grief. They only agreed after he agreed to text someone every two hours to prove he hadn’t killed himself.

He tried to explain that he’d never do such a thing; it would have upset Kim, been a blight on her memory, and dishonoring her memory was something he never could do. The Rangers had been adamant, so he’d agreed. He’d texted every two hours, spending the rest of his time looking through old pictures of his love.

A Ranger, maybe two, maybe more, would be over that weekend to check on him. They came every weekend, knowing that he could easily become lost in his grief when left alone without distraction for too long. Tommy picked up a box of cookies, whatever random type his hand landed on, know that someone would eat them eventually.

He continued on until he felt he had enough to pacify the worries of the other Rangers, (they thought he wasn’t eating enough- they weren’t entirely incorrect,) then checked out at the register, taking his purchases home.

__________

On autopilot, Tommy had driven home, parked, turned off his car, gotten out, and picked up the bag with eggs in it before he ever looked up at his front porch.

Then, on instinct, not autopilot, he dropped the bag and sprinted toward the figure resting on one of the rocking chairs.

“Kim!”

Kim opened her left eye, the right was swollen shut, and gave Tommy a weak smile, reaching a hand out to him. He took her hand gently in his immediately, dropping to his knees next to her.

“Sorry… took long…” she mumbled. She was still in her Ranger uniform, although her head was uncovered, the suit still covering the entirety of her neck. Kim’s face was a mess of bruises, some old, some fresher, and half healed cuts and abrasions. There was a sort of poultice under her right eye that Tommy suspected was covering a burn. She tried to sit up from her slumped position and hissed, confirming Tommy’s theory that her body was just as banged up as her face.

“Don’t apologize. I am _so_ relieved to see you. Let me get you inside.” He carefully put one arm behind her waist, the other under her knees, and he lifted her as gently as he could, but she still let out a pained yelp.

“I’m sorry beautiful. Just hold on a minute and we’ll get you more comfortable.” Tommy opened his front door and bypassed the living room sofa, bringing her right up to his bedroom and into the master bathroom. “Have your injuries all been treated?”

“No, they fixed the broken bones, covered the worst burns, and treated the infected cuts but there is a lot of bruised and cut skin, my ribs could use wrapping, and I think my wrist is sprained.”

“Okay, we can take care of all of that. How do you get this off?” He motioned to her uniform. Kim moved her hand slowly toward her stomach, pressing the hand there and closing her eyes. After a few seconds, the uniform disappeared, and Kim was left naked in Tommy’s arms.

Most of Kim’s torso was bruised. Bits of fresh red bruises overlapped areas where bruises had begun to age, turning purple and blue, and into green, yellow, and brown. There were cuts, most somewhere in the middle of the healing process, although Tommy recognized that there were a few smaller ones still sluggishly bleeding. Kim’s arms were similarly covered, her right arm much more heavily bruised than the left and containing a few smaller burns. The fingernails on both of her hands were torn and Kim’s left wrist was slightly swollen, although she could move it, so it wasn’t broken. Kim’s legs were the least bruised part of her body, although not completely free of either bruises or cuts, but her feet were calloused and bloody. Tommy noticed that her hair was filled with dirt and blood.

“Would it be okay if I get you washed up so I can see a little better what needs to be treated?” Kim nodded and Tommy carried her over to the shower stall, propping her up for a minute against the wall as he gathered supplies. He pulled all his first aid supplies out, setting them on the floor next to the shower along with several towels. From a closet he retrieved bottles of strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner, having bought them months ago in the hopes she would come back home, the softest washcloth he could find, an extra bar of soap, and an old box full of old hair supplies that he’d kept even after he’d cut his hair short. Coming back to Kim, he stripped himself down to his boxer shorts, removed the handheld shower head from its holder, and knelt in the stall next to Kim. He turned the water on, letting it warm up as he pulled Kim away from the wall.

“I’m going to rinse you off first, okay? Then I’ll wash your hair.” Tommy gently rinsed Kim’s body off using the handheld showerhead and the water came off her tinged brown and red. When it began to run something close to clear, he turned to her hair, rinsing as best he could. He worked shampoo into her hair, rinsed, and repeated three more times until he’d used over half of the bottle, but her hair no longer felt greasy or grimy and the water no longer was red when he rinsed the shampoo out.

“I had a bad cut on my scalp,” she told him. “it healed, but our water supply was damaged in a skirmish. We all had to stop washing.”

Tommy put conditioner in her hair, grabbing some clips from his box of old hair supplies before piling her hair on the top of her head and carefully, gently pinning it up.

He turned to her body again, wetting the washcloth then starting to rub the soap against the skin on her back, she cringed a little when he hit certain spots, but seemed to be able to breathe through any pain she was feeling. He scrubbed as gently as he could with the washcloth before he rinsed her off, one section at a time until she seemed clean. Finally, he took her hair down, rinsing the conditioner out before he turned off the water. He took at towel and patted gently at her face to dry it before he wrapped her hair up in it. He got out, stripping his boxers off and wrapped a towel around his waist before taking the last towel and using it to pat dry her legs, her arms and shoulders, and her torso. He set it on the bathroom floor and gently picked her up out of the shower, placing her down on the towel.

He started with her back before moving to her front and then her limbs. He rubbed in burn cream and put aloe on, put first aid cream and band aids over cuts that hadn’t started healing yet, then wrapped her ribs, her left wrist, and both of her feet.

Tommy lifted Kim gently and brought her over to his bed, which he, luckily, hadn’t made that day. He laid her gently on the bit of mattress he’d slept on the night before. Tommy disappeared into his closet for a minute, coming back with new boxers on and with a t-shirt which he helped Kim into. “Rest for a minute. I’m going to see what pain killers I can find you- it’ll probably just be acetaminophen, but it might help.”

He came back with three ice bags wrapped in kitchen towels which he put on top of the worst of her newer bruising, a glass of water, and some extra strength acetaminophen which Kim obediently swallowed. Tommy covered Kim up, the lounged next to her on the bed, holding her hand and talking quietly to her until she fell asleep.

__________

Billy was the first Ranger to show up at Tommy’s house the next morning. All the Rangers that had served with Tommy planned to show up today to try to cheer him up. It had, after all, been Kim’s birthday earlier in the week and they all knew that Tommy was prone to be particularly down around any day that he specifically associated with her.

Billy was concerned as soon as he pulled up and saw the shopping bag, egg oozing out, on the ground, the rest of Tommy’s shopping still sitting in the back seat of the Jeep. Walking up to the house he saw that the front door was wide open, although the screen door had closed itself over. Inside, Billy found the medicine cabinet of the kitchen torn apart. Fear bubbling in his chest, Billy made his way through the house, finding nothing out of the ordinary in the other rooms downstairs or upstairs until he made it to the master bedroom.

Tommy was laying in his boxers on top of the covers on the bed, his back to Billy. Billy walked fearfully in toward his friend and reached a hand out to check Tommy’s pulse.

Then, when he saw what, or rather who, Tommy’s body was shielding, he dropped his hand and relaxed. Billy took a moment to watch the couple- both were breathing, although Kim’s respiration was slightly more labored, and Tommy was curled around Kim, although the only placed they touched was where their hands were clasped together.

Billy went downstairs, pulling out a cell phone and calling Jason. “Start the phone tree, Jason,” he told him once the man answered. “No one should come out here today.”

“Why? What happened? What did he do? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Probably a lot better than fine, actually. Kim’s home.”


End file.
